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A cybernetic approach to contextual teaching and learning

Ethical inclusive curricula design : conversational teaching and learning

  • Authors: Baron, P.R.
  • Date: 2018
  • Subjects: Conversation theory , Contextual teaching , Cybernetics
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/289374 , uj:31397 , Citation: Baron, P.R. 2018. Ethical inclusive curricula design : conversational teaching and learning.
  • Description: Abstract: South African Public Universities are facing transitional challenges as they traverse uncharted territory in decolonising knowledge. The idea of decolonising knowledge brings with it the need to review curricula as well as the lecturer’s pedagogy. A cybernetic approach using conversation theory is presented as a viable solution to inclusive and ethical contextual curricula design. Through conversation, contextual enquiries can be achieved which are then used as reference points in revising curricula. In this paper, a report back on a recent curriculum re‐design is presented. The results of this process have been positive with students demonstrating increased participation, personal responsibility, and higher motivation in performing assignments. Other positive features are that students introduce new and relevant topics into the curriculum. These topics are contextualized by the students (and teacher) allowing for student interpretations of the content in terms of their daily lives, i.e. the students populate the curriculum with experiences they have had within their communities. There is increased social engagement in the classroom with students also dialoging in community with one another and the teacher. The abstraction of the curriculum is reduced in turn increasing the familiarity and personalization of the module content areas. This personalization effect was found to improve memory retention of the module content as the grades were higher for the topics that were proposed by students.
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The role of context in decolonising engineering curriculums in proudly South African universities: a cybernetic perspective

  • Authors: Baron, Philip
  • Date: 2016
  • Subjects: Conversation theory , Cybernetics , Contextual approach
  • Language: English
  • Type: Conference proceedings
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/124073 , uj:20870 , Citation: Baron, P. 2016. The role of context in decolonising engineering curriculums in proudly South African universities: a cybernetic perspective.
  • Description: Abstract: This paper addresses the epistemological challenges facing South African Public Universities in light of the #FeesMustFall campaign and the associated outcomes. Of particular interest are the academics who are to embrace the changes while they remain in the education system. The decolonisation of knowledge, which is still not clearly understood nor agreed upon, necessitates a rapid review of the status quo in the major universities and how they conduct their business. While transformation and decolonisation are not synonymous, the universities will be undergoing transformation to address the decolonisation needs of the majority of its students, which has already created dilemmas for the academics who have largely followed a Eurocentric approach, and are now to implement the changes addressing decolonisation. The immediate aspects facing the academics are the undefined curriculum changes, as well as the new teaching and learning strategies, which need to reflect the epistemology of the students addressing an Afrocentricity that has not been embraced in the past. A cybernetic perspective relying on Pask’s Conversation Theory may be integral in allowing the academics the skill to contextualise the curriculum, embracing those who are the consumers of this new co-created locally generated knowledge.
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